PRESS RELEASE

January 30, 2004

Still waiting for the "unsecret" details of the Boeing agreement

Despite Governor Locke's forceful statement at his January 21, 2004 press conference that ". . . all of the actions and all of the agreements that were contained in [the Boeing] proposal," had been made available to the press, numerous documents are still unavailable.

"No doubt we will eventually receive the details," said Lynn Harsh, executive director of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, "but we are likely to get stalled until the legislature is ready to go home for the year. The governor has to answer fewer questions that way."

On December 22, 2003, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) requested a copy of the Boeing agreement, which according to state law must be available along with all relevant aspects of that document. When the Governor's Office of Community Trade and Economic Development (CTED) gave EFF the agreement, the referenced exhibits and numerous other cited documents were missing.

On January 9, 2004, EFF requested copies of all the supplemental documents mentioned in the contract. We were sent heavily redacted or blank exhibits, but not the other supplemental documents. It became apparent that CTED was purposely recalcitrant and would require us to mention each and every document referenced in the contract by name. So, on January 26, 2004, we did that.

In a fax received at 6:41 p.m. from CTED last night, they indicated it would be at least 10 more business days before the remaining supplemental documents from the legally binding Boeing agreement are available. Among those remaining documents EFF is trying to obtain are Exhibits F and G. Exhibit F refers to all the authorizing resolutions and ordinances necessary for the agreement. Currently, this exhibit is blank. Exhibit G refers to the opinions of counsel regarding the Boeing agreement, also currently blank. (Please refer to our website for reasons why Exhibit G is essential to have during the legislative session.)

We also requested a copy of the state's contract with the Boeing site selection consultant and that consultant's report. In a January 23, 2004 letter, CTED denied that the state had a contract with a Boeing consultant. However, $100,000 was allocated from the Governor's 2003 Emergency Fund to CTED for the purposes of the "Boeing site selection." A December 21, 2003 Seattle Times article ("How Washington won the battle for the 7E7") identifies Mark Klender's firm (Deloitte) as having been hired by the state.

"For a deal that supposedly isn't a secret, the state sure is making it difficult to get a hold of all the details," said Harsh.

EFF is now considering taking legal action in order to receive the "unsecret" and readily available details of the Boeing agreement in time for the necessary legislative action.

Additional information:

EFF January 30, 2004 letter to CTED

Contact: Jason Mercier | Budget Research Analyst | 360.956.3482

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org